Northern Lehigh School District has agreed to delay the start of its formal mandatory sports season.

The school board on Monday unanimously agreed to the measure until no sooner than the end of the first week of school.

Superintendent Matthew J. Link said that would be Sept. 3, but because it’s a short week due to the Labor Day holiday, there’s no school Sept. 4 or Sept. 7, which would take the district to Sept. 8.

Link said that the PIAA is supposed to give an update on Aug. 21, the delayed date for the start of sports.

“I feel strongly that we should focus on the opening of schools and see how that goes prior to making sports mandatory,” Link said. “I am comfortable with the volunteering sessions (that started Tuesday); however, I think it’s appropriate that the school board also has an opportunity to weigh in on our return to formal sports with mandatory practices.”

Director Michelle Heckman asked what the difference was between mandatory versus voluntary, and asked if everyone chooses to come, can others be penalized if they do not come.

Link told Heckman they would not be penalized.

“So if students and families decide not to practice in volunteer practices, that cannot be a decision point as to whether they would be on a team or not,” he said. “They have the opportunity to come back once we formally reopen sports.”

Heckman noted that some club teams such as the Northern Lehigh Youth Athletic Association conduct their summer practices on district grounds, and asked how the district is handling those practices.

Link said he would like to see those club teams adhere to the district’s timeline.

“We have decided that outdoor facilities would continue to be available, not indoor, because of the time it takes to clean,” he said. “I would strongly encourage the NLYAA to follow our timeline; however, I understand that they have their own board of directors as well.

“We are in ongoing communication with them. I would be comfortable with them while we are having our voluntary practices if they were to mirror that as well.”

Link reiterated that no decision will be made until that specific time frame.

“Our formal decision will not be made before that first week of September though,” he said. “Another part of it is the PIAA comes out and says there will be no sports in fall whatsoever, we of course will default to that.”

Link reiterated that voluntary practices could begin as early as of this past Tuesday.

Director Mathias Green said he is confident in the plan.

“I have full faith in (district athletic director) Mr. (Bryan) Geist to take care of that and make it work,” Green said. “And I think from what I hear, he’s been doing a great job and everything’s been running pretty well so far.”

A resident submitted a question during the board’s livestreaming, asking how the district is allowing sports if students cannot go back to school five days a week.

Link said there have been no instances of any students in the district with any documented symptoms.

“We are recommending the allowing for the voluntary because of the tight controls that we have in place at the voluntary sessions,” he said. We’ve been fortunate that we have not had any students (have) any documented symptoms occurring, and I think at this point we’re probably at close to 2,000 individual screenings since the voluntary practices have begun.

Additionally, another part of this is we want to control as much as we can our students not being competing or scrimmaging or competing against students from other districts at this time,” he said. “So far, we’ve been successful in controlling it at the voluntary level.”